SMEG was founded by Vittorio Bertazzoni from Guastalla, a town near Reggio Emilia in northern Italy, and is today one of the world's leading home appliance manufacturers. The Bertazzoni family's entrepreneurial history began way back in the 17th century. Starting out as blacksmiths, the Bertazzonis soon branched out into metal enamelling. The very first Bertazzoni cookers were put on show at the World Expo held in Milan in 1906. <>P In 1948, in an era of economic growth and rapid urbanisation, Smeg was established as an enamelling plant working with metals. Today, the acronym of Smeg (Smalterie Metallurgiche Emiliane Guastalla) continues to serve as a memory of the initial activity carried out by the company. In an era of radical change in social structures, families, lifestyles and living patterns, Smeg were inspired to develop products designed to meet new technological demands and revolutionise home living. Domestic appliances quickly became seen as status symbols to be proud of, permantently changing lifestyle habits and making housework easier and less time consuming. Smeg UK, established in 1989, has been supplying premium domestic appliances across the UK for more than 20 years. Based in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, the company supplies an extensive range of over 750 products across all corners of the UK via its growing infrastructure network, of major retailers and distributors throughout England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland & the Republic of Ireland. The product range includes a vast choice of Italian inspired cooking appliances - ovens, hobs, range cookers and extractor hoods - as well as an ever expanding range of refrigerators, and washing machines. A wide selection of appliances can be viewed at Smeg’s Abingdon showroom. Smeg Service, the company’s award winning after sales and service division, is also on hand to provide full technical support through it’s network of trained engineers and local and national service centres.